It seems as if we’re losing a lot of entertainment industry folk this year. The latest, Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke, who died early Tuesday morning at the age of 69. I had the great pleasure of spending a few minutes of television time with her a couple of years ago. Patty Duke won fame playing a young Helen Keller in “The Miracle …
It’s practically the most fun I have … sitting up. I enjoy scamming the scammers. The ones who pretend to be our Facebook friends in an effort to separate us from our money. Below is my latest, actual conversation with “David.” Scammer: Hello how are you doing ? Scammer: You decide not to reply me. Me: Hi. Scammer: Am fine, Busy …
Music doesn’t get much better than that created by Ben Folds. Below is his open letter to the University of North Dakota. AN OPEN LETTER TO ED SCHAFER PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA Dear President Schafer: We are writing to urge you to reconsider eliminating the entire music therapy program at the University of North Dakota. In our respective …
With her passing this week, lots of stories are being told and retold about the bigger-than-life “First Lady of Medora,” Sheila Schafer. I can’t resist relating my favorite. It was told to Ginny and me by a very close friend of hers. Almost too good to be true, I believe it is. Home alone in the Bismarck apartment she shared with her husband, Harold Schafer, …
I don’t know much, but I do know that music therapy is pretty close to being cutting edge. Cutting edge like the drone technology the University of North Dakota has so broadly embraced in the last few years. Too bad UND administrators can’t see the connection. Without going into detail, music therapy has helped countless people, from infants to the aged, in …
I just can’t help myself. I love trying to scam the scammers. The ones who pretend to be your Facebook friends as they attempt to separate you from your personal information. Below is my latest, actual conversation with the newest scam artiste. Scammer: Hello how are you doing? Me: Hi, Les. We’re good. Scammer: Good to hear from you how is life …
Readers of this blog may recall that I like chatting online with scammers. You know, the ones who pretend to be Facebook friends in an effort to separate you from your personal information. It’s sort of a hobby with me. Below is my latest, actual scammer conversation. This one is with “Jerry.” Enjoy. Scammer: Hello … how are you today? have you heard about the good …
The 88th annual Academy Awards presentation is coming up. I look forward to it every year. For me, it marks the beginning of the end of winter. Or, at least, the beginning of the last half of winter — or something. I enjoy the Oscars, not because I’m so into movies or rich people handing over awards to other rich people. And …
I get very excited whenever a new Coen brothers movie is about to open. I’ve been a fan ever since doing a television story on the Minnesota natives and their first feature film, “Blood Simple,” back (unbelievably) in 1984. Minnesotans in the movie business were big news back then. The Coen brothers still are. I’ve seen most of their films, …
To quote the ’90s dance music group C+C Music Factory, which quoted former television talk show host Arsenio Hall, there are just some things that make you go “hmmm.” (I know, I know. At some point, I’m really going to have to start updating my references. But I digress.) These things that make you go hmmm are things that are …
Without a doubt, the New Year’s resolution most often made — and broken — is the resolution to lose weight. It’s been said that calories don’t count. But tell that to your bathroom scale after a long Thanksgivingn through Christmas through New Year’s holiday eating season. Still, I believe there are certain calories that don’t count, or at least shouldn’t …
Time again, boys and girls, to have some fun with the scammers. You know, the ones who pretend to be one of your Facebook friends in an effort to separate you from your personal information and/or your money. What follows is my latest, actual conversation. Scammer: Hi how you doing? Me: Good. Scammer: I’m real great happy and excited Staying …
Regular visitors may recall that here at the Dullum File we like to play with scammers from time to time. You know, the ones who rather than try to land actual jobs, pretend to be your Facebook friends. It’s their lame efforts to try to get us to send them money, supposedly to claim huge prizes or gifts. Here is …
How was your week? Mine was a little stressful. Here’s why. Some time ago, Ginny and I decided to add a fireplace to our home, forgetting the old adage — I just made up now — that when you add something, something else has to be subtracted. In this case, that something else is storage space. That storage space was …
The excellent, new biography “The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney,” by Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Birnes, got me thinking about an interview I did with the film legend some years ago. My experience with the 5-foot, 3-inch screen star was not at all a pleasant one, so if you like and admire Mickey Rooney it might be …
John Berg has died. You may not know his name, but you know his work. I guarantee it. Berg was Columbia Records’ Grammy-winning art director, the man responsible for some of the most iconic album covers of all time. The New York Times calls him the man who made album covers sing. His work includes the famous backlit image of …
It’s a thrill for me to join friends like Charley Johnson and Bill and Marietta Ekberg and others like Pat Miles and Don Shelby in the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Association of Television Art and Science’s Silver Circle. The award is given for 25 years or more of service to the television industry. Congratulations to fellow inductees Tim …
Someone asked me this week if I ever covered a papal visit. Not one in the U.S., but on September 16, 1984, I covered Pope John Paul II’s visit to Winnipeg for WDAY and WDAZ. It was part of a very long Canadian visit for John Paul, and a fairly historic one, marking the first time a pope had ever …
At first when they arrived at the North Dakota Highway Patrol office in Grand Fork, some of the bears seemed a little apprehensive. But then when they found out how nice everybody is, they relaxed a little bit. A few words of explanation. My mother used to collect Teddy Bears, especially white ones. When she died last month, we decided that …
Saddened to learn of the passing of long-time WDAY promotions director Roy “Pete” Peterson. I didn’t know Roy personally. I wish I had. I did know his work. He played a huge role in shaping WDAY’s identity as a station in its early days, as well as how we think of North Dakota State University and the city of Fargo …
Yesterday, a couple of very big, very strong guys (relatives, actually) helped us move my mother’s possessions out of the Hillsboro, N.D., home where she lived for almost 60 years. It reminded me of the time in Bismarck when we hired two movers to help us with some of the furniture in Ginny’s mother’s home after Hazel died. The movers …
In one of my mother’s closets, our family found some items she wanted in her funeral. We found them the day AFTER her funeral, of course. They included the Bible passage and poem below. We can’t turn back time and use them in her service, but we can place them here. PSALM 121 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel …
It’s been quite the (traumatic) year for those of us who enjoy the late night talk shows, what with the recent departures of Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show” and David Letterman from “The Late Show.” Earlier, Craig Ferguson from “The Late Late Show.” And earlier still, Jay Leno from “The Tonight Show.” It seemed like a good time to pick …
Country music star Lynn Anderson left us this week, much too soon. She died at the age of 67. “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden” became a gigantic crossover hit in the early 1970s. In her career, she had a dozen No. 1 hits. She won a Grammy and seven Grammy nominations. Twice she was named the Country Music Association’s …
I thought I knew everything. But until I read Mike Sacks’ terrific new book about comedy writing called “Poking a Dead Frog,” I had never heard the name Peg Lynch. Even though in her day she was a huge star. She was a comedy performer on radio and later television in the 1940 and 1950s. But her even larger talent was …
Grand Forks does things a little differently sometimes. For example, instead of buildings, it names “lift stations” after people like Marilyn Hagerty and Dave Barry. A new tradition now, perhaps. Last night, the alley that runs behind Sanders 1907 restaurant was renamed “Kim Holmes Alley of Love.” To me, it seems like just yesterday that Kim rolled into town on …
Like a couple of million other people who have preordered the “new” Harper Lee novel “Go Set A Watchman,” I’ve been eagerly awaiting the book’s publication date next week. A couple of million is no exaggeration, by the way. It is the biggest preorder ever for HarperCollins. It’s being hyped as the biggest publishing event in several years. “Go Set a …
Once there were a ton of them, television variety shows. Shows like “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Andy Williams Show” with big names and big production numbers. Then, suddenly, they were gone. It was almost as if television executives had all gotten together to set the price of gasoline or something. Much is riding on a new television variety show …
Not only is Nick Offerman one of my favorite actors and television talk show guests. Now, it turns out he has become one of my favorite humorists. Some people are just good at everything. (Oh, how I hate people who are good at everything.) His latest book, “Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers,” is part of my …
With all the attention being heaped on the now infamous Duggar clan and their “19 Kids and Counting” television series these days, it’s interesting to recall that large families were not always as uncommon as they are now. Above is a picture of my father’s family that hangs on our wall at home. I’ll save you the trouble of counting. …
This has been a terribly sad week in Grand Forks, made all the sadder by the passing of Jim Bollman. If you never got to hear Jim’s morning program on KNOX radio, I feel badly for you. You missed something. I know I’m dating myself when I say Jim’s work always reminded me of the legendary broadcaster and entertainer Arthur …
My buddy Rose Brunsvold and I once agreed that for us going to prison wouldn’t be the worst thing. At least we’d be able to catch up on our reading. In that regard, it seems to me that summer is the next best thing to prison, a good time to read. With the unofficial, official start of summer this weekend, …
So, “Mad Men” has ended with a something of a whimper rather than a big bang. The series ends with the lives of most of the major characters taking somewhat uncharacteristically positive turns. The one exception was poor January Jones’ character, who continues to die (beautifully) of lung cancer. She also continues to smoke in her final scene, but what …
I like to play with scammers. You know, the ones who use Facebook messaging to do their “business.” I find their story lines to be fascinating, even if their command of the English language leaves something to be desired. Below is an actual scammer conversation I had today. Enjoy. Scammer: Hello, how are you doing? I am doing good and …
The following was written at the request of WDAY alum Larry Gauper for his excellent Wordchipper.com blog. Larry has been instrumental in organizing monthly WDAY-WDAZ alumni lunches in Fargo. They are a blast. I always leave them laughing. Larry asked me to chip away at letting people know a little bit about my shady past and my current state of …
Saturday is Record Store Day, an annual event, begun in 2007 to recognize independent record stores around the country. Instead of downloading a piece of music or ordering a CD from Amazon, some people still get in their cars, drive to a store and buy a record album (yes, that’s what we used to call them) on vinyl. Through cassette …
It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m re-reading a novel I read years ago. It’s not just any novel. It’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s not for nothing that Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for it. Like much of the reading public, I’m looking forward to the publication of Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman in July.” But July is …
Hundreds of books have been written about Elvis Presley. Yes, hundreds. I’ve read quite a few, including what many consider to be the definite two-volume Elvis biography, Peter Guralnick’s two-volume “Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love.” But here are some things I never knew (or had forgotten) about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, I learned from reading Joel …
If it’s Lent, that must mean Friday night fish dinners, right? There are a bunch of them throughout the region. I got the chance to help serve the one at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Grand Forks last evening. Earlier in the season, Bishop John Folda of the Fargo Diocese acted as guest server. Talk about going from your sacred to …
Once again this year, we’ll be hosting Raise Your Paws For Pets. It’s always a lot of fun. Hope you’ll be able to join us. For information: (701) 775-3732.
I listen to Frank Sinatra’s voice almost every day of my life, mostly in my car. I don’t know what would happen to be if I didn’t. I’ve been a Sinatra fan since I was a teenager. Like great classical music, I can listen to his music over and over again and hear something new in it almost every time. …
Remember the Sony Pictures hacking scandal a few weeks back? Hackers released a ton of confidential data belonging to Sony Pictures Entertainment, including personal information about Sony employees, their salaries and whatnot. It provided a glimpse of who was doing what to whom in Hollywood. It embarrassed countless show business talent and executive-types and provided a lot of fun …
Another full house and a standing ovation for the final performance of Guys on Ice last night at the Fire Hall Theatre in Grand Forks, N.D. It was a great finish to a very fun run. In eleven performances and a half dozen or so rehearsals, I didn’t fall off the stage once. To me that’s success. Thanks to everyone …
